Amit Katoch
Jammu, Dec 8: Born and brought up in Jammu, Ankush Magotra is all set to participate in the forthcoming 37th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA).He will be one of the members to join scientific and logistics teams from India to participate in 37th -ISEA.
While talking to EXCELSIOR a day before leaving on his mission, Ankush said that he is very enthusiastic and optimistic about the expedition as his dream of representing India is being fulfilled.
Click here to watch video
Ankush, a student of Army Public School Nagrota and National Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, Dehradun was passionate to bring pride not only to his family but for the country also. So, to turn his dream into reality National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) became the medium. It is an autonomous research and development institution of the Ministry of the Earth Sciences responsible for the country’s research activities in the polar and Southern Ocean realms.
Ankush who is a member of logistics team for which there was only one post in India which was nailed by him and now will provide logistics support to scientific research team so that climate couldn’t be a barrier in their investigation.
Antarctica which is the fifth largest continent in the world is also known for its extreme coldness, dryness and windiness. And for this kind of a situation, he claimed during the interview that he had started preparing for the expedition since 2015 and had gone under a rigorous selection process, first through a detailed medical examination at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi and then, he also received snow acclimatization training at the Mountai-neering & Skiing Institute (ITBP) Auli, Uttrakhand where he was felicitated with the best trainee award under 37th Pre-Induction Antarctica Course 2017.
Without elaborating much due to professional constrains about particular research work in Antarctica, he said “the purpose is to scientifically explore the continent which is a source of 75% fresh water in the world and also to understand in depth the changing phenomenon of climate change and its ill effects.”
When asked about India’s role in Antarctica, he said “India is doing very good there with latest technology, diversifying its reach and research work in most of the areas as it is evident from the presence of ISRO and DRDO teams there.”
Ankush didn’t forget to give due credit to his father Dr H P Magotra,Retd Principal State Institute of Education, mother Jyothsna Raina,Retd Government teacher whole family and friends for their mental and moral support throughout this long journey.
India has its two active stations MAITRI and BHARATI provided with comfortable living accommodations, state of the art laboratories and well equipped library and communication systems in Antarctica and the maintenance responsibility of these stations has been assigned to NCAOR. Scientists in these research stations carry out research in all disciplines of polar research.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
